The Search
Working fast, Leif secures the belay, then threads the rope through the abseil device on his harness and pulls it tight.
Then he lowers himself carefully over the edge. He’s not wearing climbing shoes and his hiking boots feel thick toed and cumbersome. He uses one hand to control the rope flow, the other on the taut rope above. His feet brace against the rock, attempting to keep his descent steady.
There’s a bulge in the rock face, and he has to swing out to get around it. He uses too much force, and when he swings back, his feet clatter into the wall, loosening rock. He sees it teetering.
Don’t fall.
But it does.
It rumbles down the almost-sheer mountain face, dropping and hitting the ledge where she lies. For one awful moment, he thinks it’s going to connect with her head—but the stone rides right past her, only inches away, and crashes further down the mountain, plummeting into the river far below.
He takes a breath. Forces his heart rate to settle. Then he begins to descend again, with more care as to where he places his feet.
When he finally reaches the ledge, he secures himself to the rock with another belay.
The ledge is only a few meters wide, with a sheer drop below. There is a moment—just a moment—when Leif thinks: I could leave.
He doesn’t want to be here—because now it is down to him. He must go to her. He must know.
But of course, he already knows.
He knew when he saw the names in the logbook.
He knew when the German hikers described a man with his head in his hands, a tattoo of the mountain on his neck.
And he knows now as he moves toward the woman who lies still.
He crouches by her. Says, “I’m here. I’m going to help you.” Words that come out flat and lifeless and fake because he is scared and he’s trying to sound like he’s in control. He can tell now, this close, from the shape of her body, from the color of her hair, from the slenderness of her wrists.
He knows.
He brushes her hair aside.
He’s always known.
He sees her face, perfectly still, eyes unmoving. The woman who was out on the mountain with his brother.
He says, “I’m here now, Karin.”